Information strategy-towards a comprehensive model of information strategy

Strategic information planning is an important topic in practice as well as in research. So far, work has mainly focused on the process of Strategic Information Planning (SIP) rather than on its result - the information strategy. But as long as the output of the planning process has not been well defined, all discussions on the process itself necessarily remain vague, too. Hence, research has been challenged with elaborating the concept of information strategy more precisely and in more detail. This paper discusses a comprehensive and comprehensible model of information strategy. The paper starts by analysing different views on information strategy from academic literature, the most advanced of which is perhaps the conceptualisation of information strategy as a system of plans. However, most interpretations found in the literature are implicit while the few explicit conceptualisations are not satisfactorily argued in terms of completeness, structure and rationale. The model proposed in this paper takes into account the interpretations of information strategy prevailing in the academic literature. It is based on a closer investigation of the domain of information strategies and distinguishes different subject matter of information processing. Our model helps to clarify and integrate the ongoing discussions devoted to information strategy as a functional and enterprise-wide strategy, as well as to strategic alignment and to the role of the CIO. It allows for an integration of traditionally separated interpretations on information strategy.

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